fetal position

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noun

a bodily posture resembling that of the fetus in the uterus, in which the body is curled with head and limbs drawn in, sometimes assumed in states of fear or emotional withdrawal.

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Origin of fetal position

First recorded in 1960–65

Words nearby fetal position

fetal hemoglobin, fetal hydrops, fetal medicine, fetal membrane, fetal placenta, fetal position, fetal souffle, fetal tissue transplant, fetal warfarin syndrome, fetation, fetch

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use fetal position in a sentence

Eventually, Ortman said, she fell into the ground and folded her body into a fetal position.
Gunfire wounds two men along 14th Street near busy Logan Circle area|Ellie Silverman, Clarence Williams|July 23, 2021|Washington Post
They did not achieve their goal because most of us continued to sleep in the fetal position and others covered their heads in a fruitless search for heat.
Locked up in the Land of Liberty: Part II|Michael K. Lavers|July 14, 2021|Washington Blade
Curled up in the fetal position on his bed in Seattle, Rob Kenney was crying out for God.
Amid the pandemic, people crave connection. The ‘Internet’s Dad’ provides it.|Josh Paunil|June 17, 2021|Washington Post
A fine example is the circular “Dreamtank,” in which a pastel-skinned female nude in a fetal position is split into four partly overlaid figures.
In the galleries: Acronyms as content encode a powerful commentary|Mark Jenkins|April 2, 2021|Washington Post

Satirists occupy a perilous position—to skewer dogma and cant, and to antagonize the establishment while needing its protection.
Harry Shearer on The Dangerous Business of Satire|Lloyd Grove|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
You have to acknowledge your age and position in life, for me quite a lot of those emotionally fueled songs were hormone songs.
Belle & Sebastian Aren’t So Shy Anymore|James Joiner|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
If the ball goes off the screen, it teleports back to the starting position.
Lost For Thousands of Strokes: 'Desert Golfing' Is 'Angry Birds' as Modern Art|Alec Kubas-Meyer|January 2, 2015|DAILY BEAST
In a 2009 interview, Church apostle Dallin H. Oaks held that the Church “does not have a position” on that point.
Your Husband Is Definitely Gay: TLC’s Painful Portrait of Mormonism|Samantha Allen|January 1, 2015|DAILY BEAST
And by the time an airplane was in the water, its exact position would be known.
Red Tape and Black Boxes: Why We Keep ‘Losing’ Airliners in 2014|Clive Irving|December 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In this position, the line of cavalry formed the chord of the arc described by the river, and occupied by us.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXXXIX. January, 1844. Vol. LV.|Various
Polavieja, as everybody knew, was the chosen executive of the friars, whose only care was to secure their own position.
The Philippine Islands|John Foreman
Cousin George's position is such a happy one, that conversation is to him a thing superfluous.
Physiology of The Opera|John H. Swaby (AKA "Scrici")
It is only necessary to have a zinc, or a galvanized tray on which to stand the glass in an inverted position.
How to Know the Ferns|S. Leonard Bastin
The case may be kept in a light position, and when once under way it will rarely need any additional water.
How to Know the Ferns|S. Leonard Bastin

British Dictionary definitions for fetal position

fetal position

noun

a bodily position similar to that of a fetus in the womb, with the knees up towards the chest and the head bent forward

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012